The British Nick Herbert was tired of being ignored by his son when he called or sent messages to him. One day, he decided to act creatively: he created an application that forces the boy to respond.
Nick Herbert could not speak to son, Ben, because boy left cell phone in silent mode
Photo: BBCBrasil.com"At the age of 13, Ben already has his own cell phone, he uses it mainly to play, but leaves it in the silent mode." So it was very difficult to get in touch with him, "Herbert told BBC Mundo. , by phone.
"I noticed that the cell phone alarm works even if the phone is in the muffler. I thought of creating something that would take advantage of this function," he says.
That is how ReplyASAP was born (something like "immediate response" in free translation). The application is able to lock the screen of the cell phone, in addition to making an annoying sound warning and interrupting what the user is doing.
You can only resume control of the machine if you reply to the received message or answer the call.
In order for it to work, the father needs to install the program on his own cell phone and also on the child's device.
The application allows you to contact the user to send urgent messages and also sends notifications when they are read.
"It's not possible to ignore the message and I still know when to see it," says the Briton.
ReplyASAP uses cellular alarm to stop user activity from the mobile and force it to respond
Photo: BBCBrasil.comFor important things
"This app is for the person who is frustrated when their text messages are skipped because the other person's phone is in silent mode all the time" - this is the summary of the tool in an online store.
The application costs $ 1 ($ 3.15). The free version offers the possibility to connect a device ─ the paid mode allows the installation in up to 20 mobile phones.
"At first, my son did not like what I did," says Herbert, who lives in London and is 45 years old.
"But then he understood the situation and even found it useful," he adds.
He explains that he does not use the "all time" tool, but "only for important things."
Beyond parental control
Herbert had never been involved in developing an application prior to ReplyASAP.
According to him, it was "several months" from idea to launch.
The first version of the app was released in August for Android - the iOS version (operating system of Apple phones) is still in development.
Application is able to lock your phone's screen until the person answers the call
Photo: BBCBrasil.com"I'm learning a lot about how to improve the application. A lot of people have written to give me their opinion," says Herbert.
The application already has 36,000 users and for now is only available in English - other languages should be added soon.
In addition, Herbert is considering other uses for the app, as well as parental control over the children's cell phones.
"At first, I just thought about parents and children, but other applications have already occurred to me, such as families with older people and businesses, especially those who work remotely," he says.
But is there not a risk that people will use the application for other purposes, such as harassment or invasive contacts?
"I thought of that when I created [the tool], but the system requires both people to have the application installed, you can reject the invitation to download or even uninstall," replies Herbert.
"My son and I use it wisely, only when it's really needed," he concludes.
0 Comentários